The Santigolden Age: A Beauty Collection for the End of the World

A makeup collection inspired by the end of the world is exactly the kind of thing genre-blending performer Santi White, a.k.a. Santigold, would do. The Santigolden Age, her debut line for Smashbox, blends mythology, snakes, art, jewelry, and, of course, vibrant stage-worthy eyeliners, shadows, nail decals, and lipstick to make a collection that’s both a mix of everything and also totally her own. “I took the same collage approach that I do with my music," says White. "My whole aesthetic is to take bits and pieces from all kinds of music—punk rock, reggae, new wave, everything I’ve ever heard—and fuse it into one style that is special and unique.”

What was the inspiration behind the collection? "We started working on the project around 2012 amidst all the talk about the end of the world and the Mayan calendar. Obviously the world didn’t end, but I got really interested in the myth of this flying feathered serpent that is supposed to restore balance on the earth post-2012. The collection is about this fun, imaginary, postapocalyptic world where things had returned to a good place."

What was the actual process like? "It was harder than I thought it would be. I learned a lot about the business of making makeup and all the specific regulations they have for different products. Details like how big glitter can be on your eye. That’s not something you really think about."

How did you choose the colors? "I wanted colors that could be worn in a really strong way or layered to add just a little bit of a pop. And they had to work for people of all different shades. As a brown-skinned person, a lot of times when I buy a palette, there are a lot of things that don’t work on my skin. I wanted to make something that worked for my skin but also for pale skin."

What product are you most excited about? "The eyeliner pencils were where the fun really began. When I’m onstage, I like to wear really bright colors on my eyes, and I was having a hard time finding beautiful, opaque, easy-to-apply pencils that lasted. These pencils are really bright, and they don’t smudge."

You designed the packaging too, right? "Yes, I made the collage on the covers of the palettes by hand. I literally cut up a bunch of things and pasted them together. The flowers at the bottom are from a photo in Ethiopia. The gold is from fabric for one of my costumes. The pyramid is from a toy I had. The sky is from a photo I took at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The artwork was a big reason why I wanted to do it."

Any application tips? "Be creative and adventurous. The whole point is to play around and discover and create something specific to yourself."